


you're welcome

by falloutmars



Series: the perfect match [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Matchmaking, a lot of fluff, by veronica of course, friendships too, through her eyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29961330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falloutmars/pseuds/falloutmars
Summary: Veronica smirks behind her wine glass as she listens to her best friend, Betty Cooper, complain about her non-existent love life. She’s been on yet another disastrous date, and Veronica is just biding her time until she suggests she set her wonderfully gorgeous friend up on a date.Because she has the perfect person in mind.–or, Veronica works her matchmaking skills.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: the perfect match [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2206869
Comments: 18
Kudos: 94





	you're welcome

**Author's Note:**

> me, being happy with something i've written? it happens occasionally. but me liking it doesn't matter as much as *you* liking it. which i hope you do... 
> 
> by the way, veronica is not without a glass of wine in this i swear. so warning for alcohol but that's it. 
> 
> enjoy!!

Veronica smirks behind her wine glass as she listens to her best friend, Betty Cooper, complain about her non-existent love life. She’s been on yet another disastrous date, and Veronica is just biding her time until she suggests she set her _wonderfully gorgeous_ friend up on a date.

Because she has the perfect person in mind.

“I just want an intelligent conversation, V,” Betty groans before downing the remainder of her glass. “I just… I want someone who knows themself, you know?” 

Veronica nods along. Yes, yes, she does know. And her person is already fitting the bill. 

She pours herself another glass of wine, then throws her feet up on the couch as she leans back and sighs. “I mean, Josh was fine. He was nice enough, but how boring is that? _Nice enough_.” She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “It was a textbook first date, and I want something different, Veronica! Something exciting!” She sighs again, louder this time. “And seriously, no more football talk.”

Yep, her person still fits the bill. Though he isn’t her cup of tea, especially male company-wise, he is intelligent, he’s anything but conventional, and he really, really does not like football. Thinking about it, he’s practically the complete opposite to Veronica’s own boyfriend, but that suits her. Archie is good for her; his best friend will be _great_ for Betty.

Still, she continues listening to her friend’s rants and pumps her with more wine than strictly necessary as she awaits the best time to _slip in_ her idea of a setup.

And really, all it does is convince her more and more that he’s the perfect match for Betty. 

Almost two bottles of wine and a long, long rant later, she finally brings it up.

“So, Bettykins, I have an idea.”

Betty freezes, glass in mid-air on its way to her lips. She narrows her eyes. “No offense, V, because you know I love you, but your ideas are never good.”

Veronica can’t even be offended because she _does_ have a record of notoriously bad ideas, but she is convinced that this one will not go on that neverending list. “Relax, B, this one is endlessly better than that trip to Rome.”

Her eyes go wide, and she almost drops her glass. Instead, she manages to carefully put it down on the coffee table before turning her attention back to her friend. “Oh my god,” she groans, “I thought we agreed to _never_ speak about that trip. Ever.”

She just giggles, innocently sipping her wine, and ignores Betty’s continuing words of protest. 

“ _Anyway_ ,” Veronica interrupts after a moment. “About my fabulous idea.”

She crosses her legs at the knee and folds her arms tightly against her chest before raising an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

Glass forgotten, she rubs her hands together almost conspiratorially, a smirk unmoving from her face. “So, I set you up on a date.”

Betty splutters. If she would’ve had a mouthful of wine at the moment, it would’ve stained Veronica’s pure white couch. “Nope. No way. Definitely not.”

She frowns. “Come on, girl, I’ve got the perfect man in mind.”

“Sorry, V, but I think it’s time to swear off men.”

Veronica isn’t one to give up easily, so she sends her friend those puppy dog eyes that never fail to work on Archie and says, “Just one date. All expenses paid by moi? _And_ a spa day if it all goes wrong.”

There’s a beat of silence in which Betty stares suspiciously at Veronica, contemplating what is, quite frankly, a great offer.

Eventually, she sighs in defeat. “Fine, fine. As long as it’s not another dinner.”

She squeals in delight. “Deal! Jughead won’t want to do dinner, anyway.”

“His name is _what_?!”

–

Veronica waits impatiently with her phone in hand on the evening of Betty’s first date with Jughead. She made her best friend promise to call _as soon as_ she was home, demanding to know all of the juicy gossip and obvious success of her setup. 

Because she’s convinced they’re meant for one another, despite Betty’s reservations. Jughead is a great guy. He’s a writer, an avid reader, will fight Veronica to the death on some of her more controversial opinions, and he’s definitely against the typical norms of dating and relationships. 

To be honest, Veronica went through a phase of wondering if Jughead even _did_ relationships. She hadn’t known him to be with anyone nor go on a date for the first two years of her relationship with Archie. He’d be happy enough to join them for dinner or on nights out when invited, but the whole romance thing was a mystery.

Until one day, Veronica, being Veronica, just decided to outright ask him.

“Do you do love?”

He looked less shocked than she expected, simply contemplating for a moment before nodding. “Sure. I’m not one to go looking though, so I guess I’ve never found _the one_.” There was a hint of sarcasm in his latter words, but the meaning wasn’t lost. 

“Do you want to? Find the one?”

He shrugged almost dismissively, then nodded, a smile on his face. “Yeah, yeah I think I would.”

It was two weeks later that she asked him if he’d go on a date set up by her. Somewhat surprisingly, he hadn’t needed any convincing, just a few ground rules. No dinner dates, no overly romantic stuff, no setups for the sake of it. He wanted control of the first date, so she let him have it.

Fast forward to today and he’s taken Betty out—as per her offering, and only after many further hours of convincing her that he _is_ a good man. So now Veronica is waiting for confirmation of success, most likely from Betty but certainly possibly from Jughead, either directly or via Archie.

And she’s _nervous_. Weirdly enough. 

Despite her certainty, she doesn’t want to mess up. Both her best friend and Archie’s best friend, who has somehow become her friend, are good people. They’d be even better together, and _oh_! Think about the double dates! All of the weekends away, another trip to Rome… Oh, she so hopes this goes well. 

But regardless, if it doesn’t, she knows Betty won’t be happy with her. It’s not like they’d ever fall out over something like this, but she hates an unhappy Betty who will sulk until she decides she’s had enough, and then inevitably fully swear off of men. No double dates… _Sigh_.

Anyway! It _is_ going to go well, she just knows it. No need to think otherwise.

Jughead had, surprisingly, run his date ideas by her, asking her if she thinks Betty would like it. His, uh, _unusual_ date idea had been a trip to IKEA followed by, if it goes well or as a second date, a movie night in his backyard using the projector Veronica had bought him last Christmas. 

As she listened to him excitedly explain his unconventional ideas, she couldn’t help but match his excitement. It’s certainly not her perfect idea of a romantic first date, but if _no dinner_ is what Betty wants, then _no dinner_ is what she’ll get.

They left over two hours ago now, and she hasn’t heard from either of them. A quick shout across the apartment to Archie also tells her he hasn’t heard either, so she leans back into the couch and sighs. Could be good or bad news, honestly… Good, she’s hoping.

It’s another two hours later, two boring, boring hours she spends scrolling through Netflix and staring at her blank phone screen. She wishes Archie would join her, but he’s busy… well, busy being Archie somewhere else, so she sits alone, awaiting any sense of news.

She’s just settled into a teen rom-com when her phone buzzes with a text. She squeals in excitement, jumping up off the couch and knocking over a bowl of pretzels in the process. 

_Betty: Hate to say this, but you’re right. He’s perfect._

Dropping her phone and uncaring where it lands, she starts claps loudly and eagerly. “Archiekins! Archiekins!”

Archie comes speeding into the room, clutching his own phone in hand. “You’ve heard then?”

She grins. “Betty says he’s perfect.” 

Then, he holds his phone out to her, displaying his own text thread with Jughead.

_Jughead: Don’t tell your girlfriend I said this, but I think I’m in love._

_Jughead: Not… literally._

_Jughead: Well, not yet anyway._

_Archie: Good to hear, man. Happy for you._

_Jughead: And she’s so pretty. Oh my god, Arch._

_Archie: *laughing emoji* I’ll pass your words on to the matchmaker herself._

_Jughead: Don’t you dare._

When she looks up at her boyfriend again, he’s grinning like an idiot. “You did it, babe.”

She flips her hair behind her shoulder and steps towards him. “I did, didn’t I?”

–

Four years later, Veronica relaxes onto the couch with a massive glass of wine. She’s surrounded by photos of Betty over the years as she continues working on her best friend’s birthday gift: a scrapbook. 

It felt right, this year, to be so sentimental. Both of them are finally settling into their separate lives, and Veronica just wants to make sure they have a collection of the journey they made together to get where they are today. 

And of course, a little gloating doesn’t hurt. 

As she’s nearing the past year of their lives, she picks up one of her favorite photos for the next page. She’d got it printed bigger than the rest because it simply showcases the happiness between the four friends.

The happy couple is the center of the photograph. Betty’s long white dress flows elegantly down to the floor, her veil thrown over her head to show her gentle curls and subtle make-up. The smile on her face shines like the sun, and Jughead’s arm is wrapped tightly around her. He’s grinning, too, his dark suit still neatly pressed at this point in the day and his hair only slightly disheveled from that rather passionate kiss everyone saw him and Betty share.

To her right, Veronica stands in her lilac bridesmaid dress. She’s pressed up against her best friend, with teary eyes and a watery smile. Then, on the other side of Jughead is Archie in his near-matching best man’s suit. His bright orange hair should clash with the soft lilac theme, but somehow it works. Not that it matters, anyway, with his smile equalling Veronica’s emotional one. 

To finish the photo, they are surrounded by a border of matching lilac roses and a scattering of falling white confetti. It’s perfect.

Veronica gently runs her fingertips over the photo. She tears up at the memory from just a few months ago, remembering how happy her two best friends were on their special day and how happy they’ve been together ever since.

She sticks it in the middle of a page entitled ‘You’re Welcome’ and captions the photo ‘Veronica is always right’. 

She smiles to herself. Betty will appreciate that.

.

.

.

_~fin_

**Author's Note:**

> *comes out of hiding* so, what did you think? i'd love to know your thoughts. i love matchmaker veronica, and she's always a joy to write. this was fun! let me know if you thought so too! 
> 
> seriously y'all thank you for your support in the form of kudos and comments. i appreciate every single one of you.
> 
> lots of love <3


End file.
